Practice question · Multiple choice
Knapping an Acheulean handaxe requires planning several strikes ahead toward a shape not yet present. What does experimental replication let archaeologists claim from that?
Hints
- Ask what a modern knapper discovers by trying to make one.
- The inference is about planning. What does replication actually demonstrate?
Show the answer
A. That the maker held a mental template and worked toward it
Why
Replication measures the skill required and the number of moves that must be anticipated, which licenses a claim about mental representation without inventing one. Language and symbolism are further steps the evidence does not reach, which is the discipline of experimental archaeology, bounding what may be said.
Practise Experimental and Cognitive Archaeology
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More questions on Experimental and Cognitive Archaeology
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